Seiffen Open-Air Museum
Freilichtmuseum Seiffen50°38′ N 13°29′ E
The Open-Air Museum suits families and anyone who wants to watch a Seiffen craft at work, with hoop-turning shown every day in a water-powered mill from 1760. From November to March it opens only when the weather allows, and it shuts on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January.
The museum opened in 1973 as a branch of the Toy Museum and covers 3 hectares at Hauptstraße 203. Fifteen groups of buildings stand among old paths, walls and gardens, two of them powered by water. Its heart is the hoop-turning mill that Johann Heinrich Frohs built between 1758 and 1760. It is the only original water-powered turning works left in Seiffen. A wooden wheel 5.2 metres across still drives the lathe, and hoop-turning has gone on in the building for more than 120 years.
Doors open daily from 10:00 to 17:00. The mill stops between 12:00 and 13:00, so come in the morning or after lunch to see the lathe turn. Most of the visit is outdoors between buildings, and in winter the museum may close when the weather turns. The cash desk sells the museum's books and souvenirs from 10:00 to 16:00, and the turner sells pieces at the lathe.
Worth knowing
- Arrive before 12:00 or after 13:00 to watch the lathe running.
- The car park takes coaches and trailers, and you'll find picnic tables on the grounds.
Quick answers about Seiffen Open-Air Museum
Can you watch hoop-turning in Seiffen?
Yes. The Open-Air Museum at Hauptstraße 203 shows and explains Reifendrehen every day in its water-powered mill of 1760. The mill pauses from 12:00 to 13:00.
Is the Seiffen Open-Air Museum open in December?
It opens daily from 10:00 to 17:00 when the weather allows, and it closes on 24, 25 and 31 December and on 1 January.